Updated: Name released of man hit, killed in Mt. Pleasant

Relatives have been notified and police have released the name of the 36-year-old man who walked into traffic and was killed in Mt. Pleasant Sunday night.

Kevin McPherson, most recently of 5272 Logging Trail in Sears, died after being struck by a car while attempting to cross a Mt. Pleasant street Sunday night, the Mt. Pleasant Police Department said.

McPherson, who police believe was homeless and had been staying in Mt. Pleasant for about a month, apparently stepped in front of oncoming traffic at Adams and Pickard, on the northwest side of town, and was hit by a car driven by an 86-year-old man from Six Lakes.

McPherson had a long history of legal skirmishes and, most recently, had been placed on a year’s probation just last week, after admitting to stealing two cans of beer from a downtown store, fleeing on a bicycle, and drinking the beer along a trail in Mill Pond Park, according to Isabella County court records

This month’s legal trouble came while McPherson was still serving two years of probation, set to expire in December of this year, for assaulting a police officer and resisting arrest in Osceola County in March 2012, according to Michigan Department of Corrections records.

Sunday evening McPherson was walking north when he started to cross Pickard and was hit by a westbound car.

A witness said he did not look for traffic before stepping in front of the approaching car, police said.

The witness also said that McPherson was nearly hit by another vehicle seconds before being struck.

Police do not know where McPherson had been or where he was going when he was hit.

He was taken to McLaren Hospital in Mt. Pleasant and later transported to Covenant Hospital in Saginaw, where he died.

Releasing his name was complicated by the fact that McPherson was believed to be homeless and apparently did not have close contact with relatives, police said.

But one relative, a cousin from Clio, was shocked to learn of McPherson’s death and believed he was still living in Sears.

“I’m still trying to comprehend all of this,” said Ken Lamsen, who was trying to contact other relatives as well. “As far as I knew, he was not homeless. He had a place – unless he lost it to taxes.”

The Mt. Pleasant Police Department was assisted by the Michigan State Police, which conducted the reconstruction of the traffic crash, Mt. Pleasant Fire Department, Isabella County Sheriff Department, and MMR.